Chapter 84: Sarai
Now on the Nowen continent of Eridos, the main star of the main plane, the country called Luwak seems to be in the feudal era of the Blue Star.
The current king of Loire, Leon III, has been on the throne for more than 20 years. Many young people in Viplain have only known this king since they can remember.
The Montville region where Viplain is located is actually the territory of the Duke of Montville.
However, during the reign of the previous generation, Duke de Montville, he donated part of the territory under his rule to his bodyguard, the Glorious Knight Capet, and obtained the recognition of the fiefdom from the then King Albert V of Loire.
According to public information, the reason why Duke de Montville bestowed titles on his guard officers was because Capet saved Duke de Montville's life during the "River War" and even sacrificed an arm for it.
But some people also say that Capet was the lover of the Duke of Montville, and obtained the territory and hereditary title by selling ditches.
Sure enough, no matter which world it is, Gouzi literature is so popular.
Although the exploitation of farmers by the lords and the temples was not very severe, most farmers still had little money left each year.
There is no way. In most eras, farmers are a group that anyone can get a piece of.
Temples only collected tithes and temple taxes, and lords only collected manor taxes and territory taxes.
But the king also had to collect window taxes, stove taxes... and even special crop taxes for those who grew special crops.
What's more, there are so many private institutions, such as the Blacksmith Guild and the Livestock Guild, which charge farmers a considerable fee for farm tools and animal power every year...
Finally, after all the money from other places has been paid, a common fund of 20 copper danas per acre of land must be paid to the village public purse...
Adding all these together, the tax burden is almost equivalent to more than half of a farmer's annual harvest.
A family of six can only cultivate more than 100 acres of land if they borrow cattle from the livestock guild.
Because the two-field farming system is adopted, half of the land needs to be rested every year to wait for the soil fertility to recover, and the actual area that can be reclaimed is only more than 50 acres.
Part of it will be used to grow flax and vegetables for self-sufficiency.
Due to the limitations of agricultural technology, even with the help of blessing magic, the wheat yield per mu of land is only 100 kilograms, and 40 mu of land can only produce a maximum of 4,000 kilograms of wheat.
After paying various taxes and fees, the actual income of a family of six is less than 2,000 kilograms of wheat, while the family's food rations require at least 1,000 kilograms a year (about 800 kilograms after shelling).
What he could sell himself was only about 1,000 kilograms of wheat, or 800 kilograms of wheat flour.
50 kilograms of wheat flour can be sold for about 420 copper denarii, equivalent to 7 silver riels, and 800 kilograms of wheat flour is equivalent to 9 gold dukes. After paying the village common fund, only 7 gold dukes are left.
It may sound like a lot, but these 7 golden dukes are what a family of 6 earns in a year.
Moreover, people cannot live just to eat and wear clothes. All kinds of things require money. Whether you want to eat meat, see a pastor for medical treatment, or attend social events for weddings and funerals, each one costs a lot.
This is in a year of good weather and good harvest. If the harvest is poor, a heavy rain may make a farming family unable to make ends meet.
Therefore, when Fang Yu offered everyone 1 gold duke for each material as long as they could find him 10 kilograms of each material, many people beat their chests and stamped their feet, regretting why they had not saved some of these useless things last year.
Although there are only 5 gold dukes in total, it is equivalent to an extra year's surplus money for my family.
Fang Yu didn't expect to get all five materials at once. It was a pleasant surprise to get the fruit of the small-needle silver cypress this time.
His attention now was almost entirely on the red-nosed Pastor Jacques.
Pastor Jacques drank some water, looked at the sun in the sky, mumbled something that no one could hear, and shook his head.
I drank too much at noon and I'm still drunk.
"Is the altar ready?" With the help of little Beto, Pastor Jacques jumped off the donkey cart and dusted off the dust on his body.
"Of course, Abbe Jacques," said Old Berto respectfully. "It's prepared this way every year. You can rest assured."
Parson Jacques nodded. "That's good. But don't let it be like what happened in Enke Village. They posted the notice long ago, but still hadn't prepared lambs under a year old. This cost me too much divine favor."
The Harvest Temple's annual blessing of the land for believers is free, but the villagers still have to prepare the offerings themselves.
Every year, a village would spend at least 5 gold dukes just to prepare offerings to the God of Harvest and set up the altar.
Both Old Beto and Pope's expressions changed. Pope said anxiously, "Abbot Jacques, why do we need to prepare lambs under one year old? We haven't needed them every year before."
Old Jacques glared. "You haven't prepared anything either? This notice was clearly posted at the entrance of the Mercfore Temple a month ago, informing all the believers in the pastoral areas of the Harvest Temple that according to the oracle, this year's blessing spell requires an extra lamb under one year old. Didn't you see it?"
Posted on the temple gate? A month ago? That's 50 leagues, at least two days' walk. Who would go to Mercfore just to take a look at the notice?
Old Beto was afraid that Pope would lose his temper, so he pulled Pope aside and said with an apologetic smile, "Don Jacques, you know that Viplain is a bit remote and may not have received the news. Can you please be flexible this time?"
After saying this, old Berto took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and handed it to Parson Jacques.
Abbot Jacques took it without hesitation, weighed it and realized that there were only a dozen silver riels in it, and he couldn't help but show contempt on his face.
A dozen silver riels is actually not a small amount of money. Not to mention a lamb, even an adult sheep costs about the same.
Seeing the look on Parson Jacques's face, little Beto thought to himself that it was not good. If the priest was not careful when blessing, the effect of the blessing might be much worse, and no one could say anything.
"Your Excellency, the village is actually a little short of money right now, mainly because we want to prepare some good things for you during the autumn harvest." Little Beto whispered to Master Jacques.
"Good stuff?" Old Jacques' cloudy eyes lit up. "What is it?"
"I'll show you." Little Betto attentively helped old Jacques into the barn.
As soon as Abbot Jacques entered the barn, he saw the wolf's corpse lying on the straw on the ground.
Abbot Jacques poked the giant wolf with his cane and then nodded with satisfaction.
"This giant wolf is quite good, and its hide is intact. Where did it come from?"
A smile appeared on the face of Abbot Jacques.
"Didn't you say last time that your knees ache every winter? So, I thought of preparing a giant wolfskin mat for you. You can use it as a cushion in the carriage so that when you go from Merkfort to the villages, your legs won't ache."
"Giant wolves are too ferocious. Even if hunters kill them, their fur won't be intact, unworthy of your noble status. Fortunately, an adventurer came here today and sold us this giant wolf."
"By the autumn harvest, the wolf skins will have been tanned. Before the cold weather comes, you'll have a warm wolf skin mat for your carriage."
Abbot Jacques laughed heartily and patted little Beto on the shoulder: "Boy, you are much better than your gnarled father."
Little Beto bowed, a smile on his face: "Master, do you think we should go to the altar now?"
The two chatted and laughed all the way. As soon as Abbot Jacques came out of the barn, he saw Fang Yu in the corner of the crowd.
There was no way. With Fang Yu's dress and appearance, it was hard not to be noticed among this group of farmers.
The old guy was still drunk and dizzy just now. He was so happy to see Wolf Skin and was almost sober now. Naturally, he noticed the strange young man at the first time.
"Sir, this is the adventurer who killed the giant wolf." Little Beto was very perceptive and introduced him attentively.
"Are you... from Sarai?"
Old Jacques walked up to Fang Yu, looked him up and down with his cloudy eyes, and suddenly asked.
(End of this chapter)
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